1. Macbeth: Essay Question
5th Years

2. Essay Question
‘Responsibility for Macbeth’s downfall does not lie with Macbeth alone.’ To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Support your answer with reference to the text.

3. Guidelines for Structuring Answer
A brief plan – this should be key words or phrases and the order of your argument.
An introduction – this should outline your general response to the question. What is your opinion going to be? You can’t stay on the fence. Decide on your point of view and argue it thoroughly.
Aim for a points-based answer, avoiding excessive narrative or summarising.
Make one main point per paragraph.
Points should be discussed in a logical order.
The opening sentence in each paragraph (lead sentence) should state the main point of the paragraph.
Maintain focus on, and refer back to, the terms of the question.
Support your main points with close reference to, and quotation from, the text. Remember, you are trying to prove that your opinion is the right one – to successfully achieve this you will need lots of evidence.
A brief conclusion summing up the argument you have made and reminding the examiner why are right.

4. Points to Consider Are the witches to blame?
They are aware of Macbeth’s weakness (which he has held in check so far) and use it to tempt him.
They dangle the prospect of being king before him, knowing how it will affect his burning ambition.
Shakespeare deliberately opens the play with the witches to create an ominous atmosphere, suggesting the evil they represent. The darkness and evil of the witches lurks over all the big decisions in the play. Perhaps it is them who conjure the dagger that directs Macbeth to Duncan’s room, again tempting him in his moment of weakness.
At a crucial moment when Macbeth must decide how he will continue as ruler, the witches again tempt and manipulate Macbeth into believing he is invincible. The apparitions convince him to carry on his violent and tyrannical path because the witches fill him with a false sense of security.

5. Points to Consider Is Lady Macbeth to blame?
Lady Macbeth’s ruthlessly ambitious nature is evident in her appeal to the forces of darkness to fill her with “direst cruelty”. She is the dominant partner in the relationship at the start of the play and uses this to her advantage.
When Macbeth decides to abandon the plan to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth uses her formidable powers of persuasion to change his mind. She taunts him, emotionally blackmails him and manipulates him. He loves and respects his wife greatly and so when she puts him under immense pressure to go through with the murder, he feels he has little choice.
Macbeth is an essentially good person, tortured by his conscience and rather than helping him, she mocks him for it. Forcing him to reject his innate goodness in favour of evil.
Lady Macbeth is power-hungry. She believes having ultimate power will bring them happiness and so does all in her power to make it happen.
She constantly tells Macbeth to act without thinking, to ignore uncomfortable thoughts and to suppress any guilt. When he follows her advice, he becomes a tyrannical monster.
Her own insanity and sleepwalking, as well as her death, take a severe toll on Macbeth making him emotionally unstable when he most needs his wits about him. Once has lost her, he has nothing left to lose, guaranteeing his downfall.

6. Points to Consider Is Macbeth to blame?
At the start of the play Macbeth is described as brave and loyal, all in Scotland think highly of him and is even seen as his country’s saviour. There is no denying he has many good qualities. However, it is ambition, his tragic flaw that allows him to be manipulated by the witches and his wife.
Though the witches certainly tempt Macbeth with the prospect of being king, they never suggest murder or treachery, those thoughts come from Macbeth. Banquo is wisely cautious about trusting the witches but Macbeth is too “rapt” in his own ambitious thoughts to be sensible. The witches plant a spark but Macbeth fans the flame himself.
He does no plotting or scheming in order to become Thane of Cawdor but when it comes to becoming king, he immediately thinks of murder rather than letting events unfold naturally. Though these thoughts horrify him, he still considers them even before he has spoken to Lady Macbeth.
When Malcolm is named as heir he makes it very clear he has not abandoned the thought of murder.

7. Points to Consider Is Macbeth to blame?
Lady Macbeth has to forcefully convince him to go through with the plan but it is obvious that Macbeth wants to be convinced by her. He is uncertain and looking for approval for what was his plan all along. In fact, Lady Macbeth’s single-minded determination to commit murder does not repel him but makes him admire her all the more. Though he is tortured with guilt, he wants permission to go through with the murder and she gives it to him.
Lady Macbeth seems power-hungry but she wants power for her husband more than for herself. She states very clearly that he could be great and she asks to be ‘unsexed’ to help her husband achieve his greatest ambition. Though she is misguided, she is trying to make her husband’s dreams a reality because she loves him.
Very likely the dagger leading him to Duncan’s room is a product of his own mind, a symbol of the ruthless ambition within him which will have him king at any cost.

8. Points to Consider Is Macbeth to blame?
Macbeth cannot blame the witches or his wife for his decision to kill his best friend Banquo. His primary motivation is fear that his new position on the throne will be threatened and bitterness that Banquo’s offspring will be kings. He claimed becoming king was all he needed to be happy but now he does not hesitate to kill Banquo and neither needs his wife’s persuasion nor consults her at all on the matter.
Though the witches do give Macbeth a false sense of security in the apparitions, the fact that he feels invincible simply allows him to act in whatever way he chooses. He chooses to act like a tyrant and a monster, nobody else forces him
Though Lady Macbeth can be very persuasive, for most of the murders committed Macbeth needs no persuasion. He justifies each awful act to himself. It is not only his ambition which drives him to murder Macduff’s family but also blood-thirsty anger.
By the end of the play Macbeth cares for nobody but himself and he is a hated figure. He alone must take responsibility for what he has become.

9. Points to Consider Remember!
In order to have a well-developed answer argue your point clearly and thoroughly.
Make your opinion/how you’re going to deal with the question very clear in the introduction. The examiner shouldn’t be trying to figure out what you think half way through the essay.
Evidence is crucial to making your opinion seem irrefutable. However, be careful not to ignore evidence that doesn’t fit in with your argument. E.g. if you are arguing that Macbeth is the only one to blame for his downfall, you cannot ignore the witches or Lady Macbeth’s involvement. You must acknowledge their role but prove in spite of it Macbeth is still to blame.
Making a point is never enough, you must prove it. This proof/evidence/argument will make up the bulk of your answer.